Interchangeable heel lifts



Nov. 23, 1965 J. M. SAHAGUN INTERCHANGEABLE HEEL LIFTS Filed Aug. 19,1963 INVENT OR JOSE MORENO .SAHAGUN BY mzmaw/w ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,218,736 IYTERCHANGEABLE HEEL LIFTS Jos Moreno Sahagt'm, 643Col. Chapalita, Guadalajara, Edo. de .lalisco, San Pablo, Mexico FiiedAug. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 303,037 Claims priority, application Mexico,Mar. 4, 1963, 71,137 Claims. (Cl. 3634) The present invention is relatedto heel lifts that are fitted in the bottom of the heel of womens shoesin order to avoid damage to said heels by the friction against theground and which, due to their wearing away in a relatively shortperiod, must be replaced frequently. This replacement may be effectedwith great ease by a combination of manual means in only a few minutessince it may be carried out by anyone without the need to send the shoesto a repair shop; furthermore, it reduces the cost of the heel liftssince those embodying this invention may be more economical than theones used presently.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novelheel lift for womens shoes which can easily be replaced and whichprovides reinforcement for the heels of such shoes.

Another object is to provide a novel hollow shoe heel and lift assemblytherefor which act as a substantially integral unit.

Other objects will become apparent from the following discussion and theattached drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded side view of the shoe heel and heel liftassembly of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side view in elevation partially in crosssection of thelower shoe heel and removable lift assembly of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a side view in elevation, partially crosssectioned, of thesleeve insert used in the assembly of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a partially cross-sectioned side view of the heel lift ofFIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings wherein FIGURE 1 illustrates the novelshoe heel 20 and removable lift assembly of this invention, heel lift10, as best shown in FIGURE 4, is provided with a solid base 12 havingan abutment face 18 with a hollow, upstanding, noncylindrical attachmentpost 14 fixedly mounted thereon. Attachment post 14 is preferablyhalf-round as shown in FIGURE 1 and is provided with a threaded throughpassage 16 located at about one-third of its length from abutment face18. Attachment post 14 is further pro vided with flared lugs 36 whichmay be firmly embedded in base 12. Lugs 36 are preferably pressurefitted into base 12 so that they exert an outwardly directed force onbase 12 thereby improving the durability of the heel lift.

Heel 20 is also provided with a threaded passage 22 located intermediatethe ends of heel 20 on front surface 26. Passage 22 is so spaced thatwhen passage 16 is aligned therewith abutment face 18 firmly abuts heelend face 28. Heel 20 is further provided with a non-cylindrical bore 38for receiving a sleeve 30.

Hollow sleeve 30 (FIGURE 3) reinforces heel 20 when fitted into bore 38.The bore of sleeve 30 is the same non-cylindrical shape as attachmentpost 14 and is dimensioned so as to receive post 14 therein. A threadedbore 32 for passing a screw through both sides of sleeve 30 ispositioned so as to align with passage 22 in heel 20 as shown in FIGURE2. Attachment post 14 and sleeve 30 may be constructed of any suitablyductile and strong material such as brass, aluminum and iron.

Sleeve 30 may be inserted in heel 20 by various methods depending uponthe structure of the heel. For example, if plastic heels are used,sleeve 30 may be fused to the heels and pressed tightly in position bymeans of a steel shank such as 34 shown in FIGURE 2; if wooden heels areused the sleeve may be forced into a bore previously drilled in the heeland secured in position by a suitable glue.

After the sleeve has been inserted, the heel lift may be easily attachedto the shoe heel by inserting attachment post 14 in sleeve 30 andapplying suitable pressure to lift base member 12 to drive post 14 intoposition so that it can be fastened by means of screw 24.

Base member 12 of heel lift 10 is a conventional heel lift base and maybe made of any suitably resistant material such as plastic or leather.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An improved shoe heel and removable lift assembly comprising a heelbody having a bore therein opening through its lower end face andintersected between its opposite ends by a screw receiving passageopening through the front surface of the heel; a rigid sleevedimensioned to closely fit said bore suitably fixed therein, said sleevehaving an axial through bore of non-cylindrical configuration incross-section and being provided with oppositely aligned threaded boresdisposed to be aligned with said screw receiving passage when assembledin said bore; a heel lift fixedly mounting an upstanding attachment postformed in cross-section to matingly fit said sleeve through bore andhaving a screw passage extending laterally therethrough in position tobe aligned with said threaded bores of said sleeve when the heel liftbase abutment face engages the lower end face of the heel; and a screwhaving a head adapted to abuttingly engage the front surface of saidheel defining said screw receiving passage and a threaded shank adaptedto threadedly engage at least one of said threaded bores of said sleeve.

2. The improved shoe heel and removable lift assembly recited in claim 1wherein said axial through bore of said sleeve is of half-roundconfiguration.

3. The improved shoe heel and removable lift assembly of claim 1 whereinsaid attachment post is fixedly mounted on said heel lift by means offlared lugs embedded in said heel lift.

4. A removable heel lift comprising a solid abutment member having anupstanding, hollow, non-cylindrical attachment post fixedly mountedthereon.

5. The heel lift of claim 4 wherein said attachment post is fixedlymounted to said heel lift abutment member by means of flared lugs.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 306,905 10/1884De Clyne 3642 1,286,054 11/1918 Mizsak 3642 1,959,721 5/1934 Kohler eta1. 3642 2,137,816 11/1938 Sullivan 3642 JORDAN FRANKLIN, PrimaryExaminer.

FRANK I. COHEN, Examiner.

1. AN IMPROVED SHOE HEEL AND REMOVABLE LIFT ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A HEEL BODY HAVING A BORE THEREIN OPENING THROUGH ITS LOWER END FACE AND INTERSECTED BETWEEN ITS OPPOSITE ENDS BY A SCREW RECEIVING PASSAGE OPENING THROUGH THE FRONT SURFACE OF THE HEEL; A RIGID SLEEVE DIMENSIONED TO CLOSELY FIT SAID BORE SUITABLY FIXED THEREIN, SAID SLEEVE HAVING AN AXIAL THROUGH BORE OF NON-CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION IN CROSS-SECTION AND BEING PROVIDED WITH OPPOSITELY ALIGNED THREADED BORES DISPOSED TO BE ALIGNED WITH SAID SCREW RECEIVING PASSAGE WHEN ASSEMBLED IN SAID BORE; A HEEL LIFT FIXEDLY MOUNTING AN UPSTANDING ATTACHMENT POST FORMED IN CROSS-SECTION TO MATINGLY FIT SAID SLEEVE THROUGH BORE AND HAVING A SCREW PASSAGE EXTENDING LATERALLY THERETHROUGH IN POSITION TO BE ALIGNED WITH SAID THREADED BORES OF SAID SLEEVE WHEN THE 